A Waterless Dishwasher You’ll Never Have To Empty

There are some chores I’ve just never stopped hating. Dishes are one of them, making the bed is another. Although we’ve got a fairly new dishwasher it still takes some doing to get me motivated enough to start the process. We have to be down to our last couple of forks. Even after they’re clean, there’s still the task of taking everything out, making sure it’s really dry, and putting it away.

Although using a dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes by hand, it’s still a major consumer of both water and electrical energy in the household. But what can we do? Dishes have to be clean, and the only way to do that is with hot, soapy water, right? Wrong. The DualWash Bipartite Dishwasher is a complete reinvention of the humble dishwasher. Not only does it operate without water, it doubles as the cabinet so once it’s loaded, the dishes are already put away.

I know you’re desperate to know how it works (I was too), so here it is: Instead of hot water, the dualWash would use carbon dioxide. When the washing cycle starts, the carbon-dioxide cycle is activated, and supercritical carbon-dioxide (liquid CO2) is pumped to the cleaning chamber. “Supercritical carbon-dioxide has a very low surface tension, meaning instead of beading up into a ball like water, it spreads out widely covering all surfaces,” explain the designers. As this review points out, should there be solid particles, the supercritical carbon dioxide is returned to carbon dioxide’s gas phase, and forces and stubborn particles into the filter. When full, just remove the filter and clean it.

The great part is that this futuristic dishwasher has not one but two cabinet areas. Simply slide the door over the side that’s due for cleaning, while the clean dishes in the other side are on display. This concept is perfect for single individuals or couples, because it allows you to wash just a few dishes without the guilt of wasting water and energy.

Beth Buczynski is a freelancer writer and editor currently living in the Rocky Mountain West. Her articles appear on Care2, Ecosalon and Inhabitat, just to name a few. So far, Beth has lived in or near three major U.S. mountain ranges, and is passionate about protecting the important ecosystems they represent. Follow Beth on Twitter as @ecosphericblog

But they have a waterless cleaner for the filter, too, and you don’t even have to take it out…. its called your imagination

perry

so is the supercritical carbon dioxide in a closed system and not have to be replaced?

noodle

Will this really take less energy than a regular dishwasher or hand washing?

bethbot

Nothing I can find about the design indicates power source or amount of consumption. Most modern dishwashers are fairly efficient when it comes to electricity these days, it’s the massive amount of water that makes them a drag. Interestingly, tests have shown that hand washing actually wastes the most water, since most people do it with the faucet running the entire time.